Alternate cover for “Eternal Sunshine” @arianagrande on Instagram
On March 8, pop sensation Ariana Grande released her seventh album, “Eternal Sunshine,” her first body of work since 2020’s “Positions.”
The album features thirteen tracks and runs for 35 minutes and 26 seconds, making it her shortest album to date.
“I do feel like it’s a concise album,” Grande asserted in a recent interview with Zach Sang, “and I don’t think it needs more.”
While I would have liked there to be more songs on the album, I would agree that the album did not need more; the concept was adequately conveyed in thirteen tracks.
The record is also the only one of Grande’s that does not feature any other major artists. The only feature on “Eternal Sunshine” is a snippet of Grande’s maternal grandmother, Marjorie Grande (aka Nonna), speaking on the final track of the record, “Ordinary Things.”
The album begins with an angelic intro track, as many of Grande’s albums have in the past, titled “Intro (End of the World).” In the song, Grande questions whether or not she is in a relationship that is right for her. Grande voices that she feels that she should just “know” whether or not it is right, and ruminates over the complexity of love and relationships.
The second track, “Bye,” has definitely grown on me since my first listen. It is an airy, lighthearted song about finally letting go of a lover that was given too many chances.
I realized from the time of my first listen that the title track is my favorite. “Eternal Sunshine” begins as a continuation of the previous track, “Saturn Returns Interlude,” and is about wanting to forget someone who has deeply hurt you.
The song “Eternal Sunshine” is one that clearly illustrates the whole concept of the album, which was heavily inspired by the 2004 film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” which stars one of Grande’s idols, comedian Jim Carrey.
The premise of the film is regretting one’s past and wanting to forget the pain one has been caused, hence the concept of “Eternal Sunshine.”
Similarly, the music video for the second single off the record, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love),” tells an emotional story of a female character named Peaches wanting to forget a past lover and all the pain their relationship caused her.
As a result, Peaches gets a procedure to have her memories of him completely erased, only to regret it as she realizes she also had many positive, happier experiences with her former lover.
“American Horror Story” actor Evan Peters even made an appearance in the music video, portraying Grande’s character’s ex-lover.
One thing I found to be particularly touching about the record is that the question of whether or not Grande’s relationship is right for her in the introduction is answered in the final track by none other than the one person Grande looks up to the most: her grandmother.
“Never go to bed without kissing goodnight,” Nonna advises her granddaughter in a recorded conversation between the two that Ariana included at the end of “Ordinary Things.”
“That’s the worst thing to do,” Nonna continues. “Don’t ever, ever do that, and if you can’t, and if you don’t feel comfortable doing it, you’re in the wrong place.”
“It’s interesting,” Grande states in the second part of her interview with Zach Sang, “‘cause the album starts with a question and ends with an answer from a person that I love and trust so implicitly.”
Another noteworthy aspect of the album is that the eighth track, “The Boy is Mine,” is inspired by Grande’s leaked song “Fantasize” that went viral on TikTok.
“It’s so corny!” Grande exclaims in regards to the widespread support of the song during the Zach Sang interview.
Grande stated that “Fantasize” was actually intended to be a parody of a stereotypical 90s girl group song.
One critique I have of the album is Grande’s lead single of choice: “Yes, And?”
While I don’t particularly dislike “Yes, And?,” the track undoubtedly falls short to many of the others and should not have been the lead single to the album.
“We Can’t Be Friends” likely would have served much better as the lead single for “Eternal Sunshine” as it fits Grande’s smooth, R&B/pop vibe, as opposed to the electronic, house feel of “Yes, And?”
Overall, “Eternal Sunshine” undeniably takes the cake as one of Grande’s most meaningful albums. It tells a story of pain and confusion, but also finds a simple answer to such a complex question.
It was beautiful to see Grande take a film that had such an impact on her and use it to make an album filled with beautifully-written lyrics that relate to her own life.